Dr. Quilter reviewed the prehistory of Costa Rica and its relation to
other
Pre-Columbian cultures before describing the archaeological research
he
directed at the Rivas Site in southern Costa Rica from 1992 through
1998.
Although the Chiriquí culture has been known since the late
nineteenth
century, few extensive excavation projects have been carried out at
sites in
a region that stretches from western Panama to southern Costa Rica.
Although graves at the site had been looted of gold objects many years
ago,
Dr. Quilter's research at Rivas has uncovered a hitherto-unsuspected
large
Chiriquí ceremonial complex. The fact that high-status
graves outnumbered
low-status ones and that the area yielded few of the food preparation
artifacts of other sites suggests that it was a specialized mortuary
ritual
center. This research has helped clarify the role of gold objects,
distinctive pottery styles, and other high-status goods known in the
region
but previously lacking cultural context. .
Dr. Quilter taught at Ripon College, Wisconsin, for 15 years, and in
1995 he
became Director of Pre-Columbian Studies and Curator of the Pre-Columbian
Collection at the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collections in
Washington, D.C. He has received awards and grants from the NSF,
the
National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Geographic Society,
and
the Wenner -Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research. He
is finishing a
book on the Rivas site.